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GM may snuggle up to Facebook paid ads again soon

Remember, General Motors was for Facebook before it was against it. Sources report that GM is in discussions with Facebook that may result in the automaker reversing its decision to pull out of the Facebook paid ads game. Since suspending all paid Facebook ads in May, GM has still maintained a free brand presence on the social network.

Liking Facebook again

A GM spokesman close to the talks indicate that despite the dramatic, symbolic nature of General Motors’ departure from Facebook just days before the social network went public, it is willing to come back into the fold. Apparently, executives at GM believe that in spite of what it considered a less-than-successful $10 million ad campaign in 2011, another go will produce results.

New data provided by executives of the social network has proven to be illuminating for many who doubted whether consumers even paid attention to Facebook ads, or that ads apart from a brand’s standard Facebook presence even existed. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook representatives have gone on record to state that rumors of paid ad failure has been greatly exaggerated.

We’ll be your guinea pig, again

“We offered up some ideas; we said bring us your ideas,” Perry said. “We said, ‘We’ll be your guinea pig. We have the dollars to invest in this program.'”

It’s that kind of flexibility that has drawn other automakers into Facebook paid ads, including Ford, who sung Facebook’s praises after GM backed out of the paid ad program in May.

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GM wants to ‘Stay Clutch’

One of General Motors’ major free Facebook programs in recent months was the Chevrolet promotion “Stay Clutch,” a contest geared toward millennial drivers. It gives one lucky entrant the chance to win stick-shift driving lessons – a dying skill in the U.S. – while in attendance as an honored guest at the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 10. That campaign is but one example of Facebook’s ability to offer companies dynamic advertising capability without companies having to pay Facebook a dime. Automakers do invest a great deal internally developers who can make Facebook pages sing, however.

Facebook has more than enough room in its $400 million-plus advertising budget to fit Facebook back in. Of its annual ad budget, GM devotes 30 percent to online social media. Perry noted that GM is still very much a player in Facebook, even if it doesn’t currently have its paid advertising campaign up and running again.

“It’s been misreported quite often (as) saying General Motors is getting out of Facebook,” he said. “It’s not the case at all. We certainly don’t want to walk away from 900 million consumers, and we haven’t walked away. We’re a big proponent of Facebook.”